UfoCom

TheUFOCOMorBelarusianUFOlogicalCOMmunity(previous and internal name: Ufological Committee of Belarus) is a non-commercial, non-government, non-registered public organization inBelarus.It was founded in 2001, inHorki,Belarus, by a group of enthusiasts, mostly students of theBelarusian State Agricultural Academy,studyingparanormalphenomena in the local area. Later, the group developed into a statewide networked community of volunteers, performing both local and statewide field, monitoring and analytical research projects.

Kosmopoisk relations

Since 2005 UfoCom has been a part of theKosmopoisk international movement,officially serving as a non-registered office and public node for the all-CISnetwork of anomalistic/UFOresearch. All-Belarusian annual field meetings are held jointly by Kosmopoisk and UfoCom in places statewide that are considered the most notable and attractive from a researcher point of view.The coordinator of UfoCom also serves as the coordinator for the Belarusian regional branch of Kosmopoisk Unity (Kosmopoisk-Belarus). Since 2006 the UfoCom coordinator is Ilya Butov.

Orthodox Church relations

In 2005 UfoCom was included on the list of destructive religious organizations of Belarus due to a series of unfriendly articles towards the church, published by UfoCom's previous leader,Ruslan Linnik.The problem was eventually solved with Linnik's withdrawal from UfoCom activities in 2006.

Structure

UfoCom consists of a number of local groups in large cities in Belarus, most active inMinskandBrest,as well as inVitebsk,Horkiand other areas, together with a number of individual members and corresponding members from Belarus and foreign countries. In addition there exists a special urban explorer team called Diggers of Brest, which performs research on underground locations such asBrest Fortressand abandoned ancient and Soviet-era fortification installations, and an archaeological team called Artefact. UfoCom focuses on studying various anomalous phenomena (UFOs,crop circles,poltergeists), meteorite impact sites, civilian, military and religious historical sites. Research is conducted in close cooperation with theNational Academy of Sciences of Belarusand its facilities.

Cooperation and partnership

Joint research activities

UfoCom widely participates and supports various networked (mostlyKosmopoisk-based) initiatives in Belarus:

Project	Activities and researches	Achieved result
Infra-S	Travellinginfraredphenomena instrumental study, hold via a networked observations with low-budget amateur photoelectronic devices	Unidentified sources(LIDARbeam-like) with about 0.4 Hz amplitude variation spotted in 2008
Tonnel	A field search and exploration of underground installations, possibly related withUFOphenomena, and their possible influence on processes in the environment	Several archaeological sites(nonUFO-related) discovered and investigated
Dromos	A search and investigation of sites with regularUFOappearing, suspected for beingUFObases and nod of hypothetical extraterrestrial transportation system	Several locations, supposed to beUFO-nests, have been identified in Belarus

Awards

Since 2005, a number of UfoCom members and implemented activities were nominated for theKosmopoiskannual award. In 2007, two UfoCom volunteers were awarded diplomas from March for Parks, held by the Russian Biodiversity Conservation center's international environmental programme (the first time in post-USSRhistory members of ufological communities received award for nature protection activities).

Media coverage

UfoCom collects and makes available for research a library of various literature devoted to anomalous phenomena, including rare items. For promoting research and their results, a periodical newspaper,Anatomy of Phenomena,is published on a non-commercial basis.

Notable studies and expeditions

Field work

• Investigation and excavation of Stolbtsovskymeteoriteimpact site
• Discovery of a previously unknownAdolf Hitlercommand bunker inBelarus
• Study of Kupa archaeological site, which is supposed to be a 'BelarusianStonehenge'
• Investigation of snow crop circle site

See also

• List of UFO organizations
• Kosmopoisk